Dirk Nowitzki made the pact public when asked whether his wife, Jessica, approved of his new whiskers, saying he and several teammates wouldn’t shave until the Mavs were .500 again. This happened after Wednesday night’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers, and the pact was confirmed by Vince Carter, who credited O.J. Mayo for the idea.

The pact is optional, according to Carter, who said only players who has beard experience were originally approached.

“I don’t really see what’s the big deal, but everybody’s making a big deal out of it,” Carter said. “It was something that came out of the blue. (Mayo) said, ‘Hey, let’s grow our beards.’ That’s easy for me. And sometimes Dirk has one, (Chris) Kaman has one. We just asked people that grow beards mostly.”

Re: Dirk and a few teammates letting beards grow until record gets better

The rules regarding the Mavericks’ beard pact are a bit fuzzy, so to speak.

Shaving the neck is definitely allowed. What about the cheekbones? That will determine whether sixth man Vince Carter has violated the pact of not shaving until the Mavs hit .500 again.

Carter’s beard is bushy, but it’s been lined up on the neck and cheekbones and his mustache has been well trimmed. According to his interpretation of the unwritten rules, Carter is still in compliance.

“I can’t have it in my eyes, bro. Sorry,” Carter said. “Have you seen Chris Kaman? I can’t do that, man. I didn’t make the rules. That’s the thing. I don’t know where all the rules came from. O.J. (Mayo) was like, ‘We can’t cut the beard.’ The beard is the beard.”